SMARTPHONE? SMART FIX!

Is that pothole on your street taunting you? There’s an app for that. A few months ago, the City of Springfi eld quietly started using an application for smartphones called “Public Stuff.” The app allows users to report problems like potholes, downed tree limbs and busted streetlights directly to the city for repair. City spokesman A. Nathan Mihelich says complaints go directly to either the Offi ce of Public Works or the Offi ce of Communications, but the goal is to have complaints routed directly to whatever offi ce is in charge of handling a particular issue. Along with each report fi led, users can send a photo and GPS location so that city workers know where to look and what they’ll fi nd. Each complaint is given a unique identifying number, and users can track the status of their complaint through completion. So far, there have been only a handful of complaints lodged through the app, but Mihelich hopes more residents will use it to streamline the complaint process and get problems resolved more quickly. The app is available for iPhones, Android phones and Blackberry phones. For more information, visit www.publicstuff.com/ il/springfi eld-il.